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Dresden-Style Christmas Stollen/Weihnachtsstollen Dresdner Art

Europe has a long tradition of sweet breads fortified with whatever sweeteners and enrichments were on hand — usually honey or sugar, butter, eggs, nuts and/or dried fruit. These sweet breads represented both a change from the stultifying routine of a diet that, for most people, consisted of more than 80% bread and gruel, and a special treat honoring the observance of religious occasions.

In Germany, stollen is a longstanding Christmas tradition. And while each region has its own variations, Dresden stollen has emerged as the de facto standard. So herewith, a recipe that produces a traditional German stollen that’s impossible to stop nibbling.

Yield: Two 2½ lb. (1.15 kg.) loaves

Sponge:

Volume

Ingredient

Ounces

Grams

Baker’s
Percentage

1 cup

Milk

9.00

250

25%

2 Tbs

Instant yeast

0.80

24

2%

1 Tbs

Granulated sugar

0.35

10

1%

2 cups

AP flour, unsifted

9.00

250

25%

Dough:

6 cups

AP flour, unsifted

26.50

750

75%

⅔ cup

Milk

5.30

150

15%

½ cup

Granulated sugar

4.10

115

12%

2⅔ sticks

Unsalted butter, room temp

10.60

300

30%

2

Large eggs, beaten

4.05

115

12%

½ tsp

Table salt

0.10

3

0%

1 Tbs

Rum

0.50

15

2%

1¼ cups

Golden raisins

7.00

200

20%

½ cup

Candied citron, diced

3.50

100

10%

½ cup

Candied orange peel, diced

3.50

100

10%

1 cup

Chopped blanched almonds

5.30

150

15%

1½ stick

Melted butter, for topping

5.30

150

15%

2½ cups

Powdered sugar for topping

10.50

300

30%

Heat the milk until warm to the touch, dissolve the yeast and sugar and add to the flour, hand mixing until smooth. Cover and let stand about 20 minutes, until very bubbly.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sponge and all the dough ingredients, mix 6-8 minutes at low (KA 2) speed, using the dough hook. Turn the dough onto a well-floured work surface and knead in the fruit and nuts until evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Preheat your oven to 400°F. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, punch it down and divide it in two equal sized pieces. Form each piece into a long flat loaf and place on a parchment lined sheet pan. Let the stollen rest for 20-30 minutes.

Put the stollen in the oven and bake for 12 minutes at 400°F, then lower the temperature to 350°F and continue baking for another 30-40 minutes, taking care not to let them get too brown.

Remove the stollen from the oven and immediately brush them generously with melted butter, then use a sieve to give them a thick coating of powdered sugar. Repeat twice more and let the stollen cool in the pan.

When cool, wrap them in aluminum foil or place them in an airtight container and let them rest, unrefrigerated, for 1-2 weeks before serving.

NOTE: Feel free to substitute various fruits and nuts for those called for in the recipe. Prominent German baker-blogger Wolfgang Suepke, for example, recently posted a recipe for Cranberry-Walnut stollen, and is a huge booster of Thuringia-style stollen (he’s from Erfurt, in the heart of Thuringia). So enjoy and Season’s Greetings!